compromise

Unless lawmakers can agree on budget legislation to keep the federal government running, a shutdown at midnight Friday looms. If it happens, there will be a few clear winners, some who break even and a whole lot of losers.

If a compromise by definition is a deal that pleases no one, then the tax deal that cleared Congress Thursday was a rousing success: Conservatives and liberals both dislike it, but those who voted for it agreed that the alternative -- letting taxes rise for everyone -- would have been worse.

Nearly half of Americans in a recent poll believe China has surpassed America as having the strongest economy in the world, and more than half blame outsourcing and the loss of manufacturing jobs for the shift.

President Obama insists that his agreement with Republicans will help working people avoid a pay cut. But as tax experts look at the full package more closely, it has become clear that low-end wage earners will indeed take a painful hit.

The massive regulatory revision touches almost every aspect of the financial industry. In addition to rules aimed at trimming risk-taking among banks, the package prominently includes several new protections for consumers.